On 5/14/04 9:02 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Folks seem to have forgotten that > the original hackers were hacking > "stable and secure" traditional PBXs > with captain crunch whistles! > > Mitnik ran wild through PBX's and mobille networks. > > Let's work to set up secure VOIP, but > don't let anyone kid you about the golden days when telephones were secure! > > > (for extra points, why's the hacker mag called 2600?) Extra points please: because 2600Hertz is the frequency of the tone required on the old phone system to get free calls. There was a whistle that came in a captain crunch box that happened to produce this exact frequency. Or something like that. I'm too young to know this stuff first hand... I suppose I could look it up... Ah yes, google reveals this: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211496,00.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2600 is the frequency in hertz (cycles per second) that AT&T formerly put as a steady signal on any long-distance telephone line that was not currently in use. Prior to widespread use of out-of-band signaling, AT&T used in-band signaling, meaning that signals about telephone connections were transmitted on the same line as the voice conversations. Since no signal at all on a line could indicate a pause in a voice conversation, some other way was needed for the phone company to know when a line was free for use. So AT&T put a steady 2600 hertz signal on all free lines. Knowing this, certain people developed a way to use a whistle or other device to generate a 2600 hertz tone on a line that was already in use, making it possible to call anywhere in the world on the line without anyone being charged. Cracking the phone system became a hobby for some in the mostly under-20 set who came to be known as phreaks. In the 1960s, a breakfast cereal named Captain Crunch included a free premium: a small whistle that generated a 2600 hertz signal. By dialing a number and then blowing the whistle, you could fool the phone company into thinking the line was not being used while, in fact, you were now free to make a call to any destination in the world. Today, long-distance companies use Signaling System 7, which puts all channel signals on a separate signaling channel, making it more difficult to break into the phone system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Simon in New Orleans _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
